THE COMPOSITES ENGINEERING SHOW EXHIBITOR PREVIEW
comparatively long shelf lives. The bags are created by either spraying or brushing the special silicone onto a composite profile already sitting inside the mould. Once it has cured, the bag is simply peeled away and stored ready for use in the vacuum process. With over 18 years’ experience in additive layer
manufacturing, BAE Systems’ (stand 416) Engineering Solutions Facility at Warton is promoting its solutions for rapid prototyping requirements. Practical examples beyond the conventional use of rapid prototyping exist in areas such as correction of manufacturing errors, rapid tooling and use in bespoke applications. Other areas include trial fit and configuration control, testing a number of alternatives, selecting the best option in mock-up scenarios, developing and testing novel innovative designs that push the boundaries and explore the untested. Integrated optical measurement system provider Dantec
Dynamics (stand 322) will launch its latest shearography and digital image correlation products at the show. The Q-800 shearography system, for NDT of composites, offers new rugged electronics for in-service use to complement the existing electronics for its Q-810 vacuum hood inspection system. The new Q-800 electronics are water and dust proof
u BAE Systems’ Engineering Solutions Facility will be promoting its additive manufacturing capabilities
models and NC programs, either from VCP or other composite lay-up path generation applications, and simulates the sequence of NC programs on a virtual machine. Current customer projects to be highlighted include: a large
one piece fuselage barrel on an Electroimpact multi-machine fabrication cell; an aircraft inlet duct on a Cincinnati Viper 1200; the challenges encountered supporting a flexible AFP gantry machine; lay-up of a U-channel structure on a 7-axis MTorres machine; and aircraft skin panels and experiments using an AFP head mounted on a 6-axis robot. Delcam (stand 401) will be exhibiting its NC-PartLocator
u Dantec Dynamics’ new Q-800 shearography system
to IP65 with the laptop and connectors also conforming to MIL-STD 810G, which includes an outdoor readable screen. The Q-800 uses the Istra software platform for full
field strain and deformation measurement, which now includes realtime correlation with voltage output, 2D results overlay and updates to allow analysis under Windows 7 and multi-core systems. On the hardware side, new cameras up to 16 megapixels are fully integrated within the Istra 4D platform. The latest version of the VERICUT Composite Applications
software from CGTech (stand 400) will be displayed at the show, with the developer giving visitors an overview of the steps needed to get from a CAD designed composite part to CNC programs that drive automated fibre placement (AFP) machines. VERICUT Composite Applications comprises of two modules: VERICUT Composite Programming (VCP) & VERICUT Composite Simulation (VCS). VCP reads CAD surfaces and ply boundary information and adds material to fill the plies according to user specified manufacturing standards and requirements, whereas VCS reads CAD
software, which claims to improve accuracy and consistency when machining composite components. The software, developed in association with metrology specialist MSP, gives the ability to adjust toolpaths to the actual position of the part, rather than having to ensure that the component is in exactly the nominal location specified in the CAM system. To ensure accurate trimming and profiling, NC-PartLocator gathers the necessary data using a probe fitted onto the machine tool and creates a probing sequence to collect a series of points from the component. This data is then used by best fit routines within the software to determine the part’s exact position to generate a tailored toolpath. Developed specifically to eliminate fibre breakout when
u Automated fibre placement using an industrial robot in CGTech’s VERICUT Composite Applications software
8 | Composites in Manufacturing | Autumn 2010
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